Melody
by LoveWithoutLimits
Summary: Jim liked to learn things, more importantly he liked to teach himself things." Bones' POV. Short character study.


**Disclaimer : I own nothing, all rights belong to makers, directors, actors etc etc**

**Warnings: Nothing that i can think of. **

**AN1: Un beta'd, all mistakes are mine. If anyone wants to check it over again for me they are more than welcome. **

**AN2: This just popped into my head, its from Bones' POV. I think unfortunately it seems a little clunky, especially the way it ends, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone. No slash for once, though if you want to imagine a relationshop between them then feel free to :)**

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Melody

Jim was an intelligent person, for all that he tended to put on show, he was actually one of the smartest people in his Academy classes. Passing tests and getting grades came as easy to him as flirting with a good looking girl. In all the time that Bones' had known Jim, he had never once seen the man raise a book to study for a class, look at his notes or anything resembling revision.

That wasn't to say that he hadn't seen Jim study, because it would surprise most people to know that actually, Jim had spent a lot of his spare time looking various things up and going over information. It was just never what the normal student was revising.

Jim liked to learn things, more importantly he liked to teach himself things. There was something highly gratifying about knowing you had mastered something, that you had gotten there through your own effort and not someone else's. It had started when he was young and wide eyed, obsessed with anything that would annoy his mother and step father. His first foray into driving a vehicle was his stunt in his step fathers car. Ever since that day, the feeling of the air in his face and the adrenaline in his veins had been an intoxication that he couldn't kick. He tried more cars, but his passion fell into place the first time he rode a motorcycle. His entire younger years were devoted to knowing exactly how to drive them, memorising how every part worked and where it all went. Within a few years he could take one apart and put it back together blindfolded (Jim thinks that one night he might have been so drunk that he actually did just that).

Moving into Starfleet gave Jim a feast of things to learn, his desire for speed sending him through mountains of books on space crafts and mechanics. It wasn't the same as bike, they didn't have the raw feeling of being unpredictable, but they were powerful. Space crafts held a beauty that Jim hadn't encountered before, they were sleek, strong and elegant. They were unlike any woman Jim had ever seen.

Bones' had watched as a bystander as Jim's interests flickered between extreme to extreme, his tastes broadening until there wasn't much that he hadn't tried. Half way through the second year Jim took up a variation of extra defence classes, even teaching classes by the end of that year. Jim had even taken to playing chess to a high level, pleasantly surprising Bones' that he could indeed think more than a second ahead of himself. Jim's hobbies occupied him, challenged him. Bones' knew more than anything how easily Jim got bored, how he needed something to keep his mind going or he would go stir crazy, classes just weren't enough.

Bones' was slightly envious of him. Every exam that ever came his way meant at least a full of week of studying and very little sleep. His scores were high but took a great deal of effort to maintain. Bones' couldn't remember the last time that he had ever taken anything up for the sheer pleasure of it. It was, intoxicating, to see the simple joy that spread over Jim's face whenever he conquered something.

Still, becoming the Captain of a Starfleet vessel through a lot of things into disarray, Jim's curiosity was one of them. There were so many worlds to see, planets to discover and people to learn from. Space seemed like a constant source of experiences for Jim to gain. Bones' would smile whenever Jim came back from the away missions he insisted on going on. His face would be alight, his eyes almost glowing as he talked over and over about what he had seen. Part of Bones', the side that got let out the most often, would tease and snark that Jim never stopped talking, but underneath he was beaming.

It only took a few months, a lot less time than Bones' had ever anticipated for that light to falter slightly, for it to diminish until Bones' no longer saw it. The excitement was still there, but it was no longer thrilling. Jim was the same on the surface, his 'I don't care attitude' still in place, but something vital was missing. It took Bones' along time to work out what it was. Jim had never in his life been able to settle on one thing. He had his goals, his ambitions, but at the back of his mind he always had alternatives, other things he could pursue or simply enjoy for whatever time he allowed himself to. Here, where every day was based around the same rules and routines, he didn't have that freedom.

Bones' worried about him, would sit anxiously wondering what way he could help his friend. In the end it turned out that he didn't need to do anything at all. One night, many months after they had first set out on their trip, Bones' had walked past the Captains chambers with his head bowed until a sound had drifted to his ears. It was, awful, to say the very least. Pressing the button to let him into the room Bones' had stood stunned and surprised at the sight of Jim in front of him, a foreign looking instrument in his hands.

Jim had looked up and smiled at him the, his face glowing with intrigue and curiosity. Bones' had smiled back, happy, because something's would never change. Even in the vastness of space, Jim would always find something to tinker away with.

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**Again, i don't like the ending, but this was only meant to be quick cause i couldn't concentrate on "Battlefield" until i did this, lol.  
Review? **


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